Pump up the jobs

Wolstein Group's proposed "East Bank Neighborhood" would produce more than 600 new jobs on Old River Road in the Flats and have an annual economic impact of more than $50 million, according to a preliminary study the Greater Cleveland Partnership unveiled today.
Steve Strnisha, chief finance and development officer of the partnership, also gave Cleveland City Council's community and economic development committee an estimate that the completed project would produce more than $20 million in annual disposable income, most of it new to the city. The city also would realize more than $1.5 million annually in new revenues from taxes, fees and charges.
Mr. Strnisha said the partnership, which is the local chamber of commerce, had retained the Team NEO regional economic development group to produce the study because it has the resources to estimate economic impact of proposed development projects. The study is preliminary; a final report is anticipated in July.
The three-year construction phase of the project would produce an estimated $100 million in wages for trades people and a $200 million increase in personal disposable income to workers within Northeast Ohio.
The figures were released as the committee heard testimony from Scott Wolstein, a principal in the family-owned Wolstein Group, about the proposed project and details of subsidies that will be in legislation council is expected to get in July.
The economic impact estimates generated skepticism from two council members, although the development itself got a generally positive reception.
Councilman Zachary Reed, Ward 3, said he doubted the personal disposable income gains would have much impact on city residents, and the city would gain little from spending by construction workers.
"Construction workers bring their own lunch, and bring their own coffee," Mr. Reed said. "They buy gas in Westlake or wherever they're from." He said he worries few city residents would be involved in the construction because their numbers are not high in union rolls.
Councilwoman Sabra Pierce Scott, Ward 8, asked Mr. Strnisha "to do for the low end what you do for the high end" in assisting redevelopment in the city.
"It's frustrating when you see grocery stores walk away and one gas station in a three-mile area for 20,000 people," Ms. Scott said.
Public funds will pay for an estimated $69 million in infrastructure needed for the project and private funds and the Wolstein Group will pay for $145 million.
The public investment is $23 million in contributions toward the land and construction aspects of the project, including the riverfront promenade, and $45 million in public bond financing, which includes $24 million for parking garages that would be developed by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.
Wolstein Group's plan would transform Old River Road north of Main Avenue into more than 300 housing units and 200,000 square feet of entertainment and neighborhood-oriented service retail.
Meeting separately with reporters, council president Frank Jackson said he supports mixed-use redevelopment of the Old River Road area but has reservations about the large public sums involved and will scrutinize them carefully.
Mr. Jackson said he didn't attend Monday's press conference because he doesn't want anyone to take council's support for granted. He said Mr. Wolstein in earlier meetings with small groups of council members had worked to make sure the plan did not surprise them, which increases his ability to win support from council.